Jury Seated As Grevenstuk Trial Resumes
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Timothy Grevenstuk is back in Kosciusko Circuit Court to face a charge of arson causing bodily injury.
Grevenstuk, 17, is accused of setting the fire that destroyed the Leesburg Grace Brethren Church in July 1997.
Grevenstuk's first trial in May was declared a mistrial because a potential witness allegedly threatened the daughter of a juror.
The jury for this trial was selected by noon Monday and included an alternate juror as a precaution against another mistrial.
Kosciusko County Prosecutor David Kolbe said the court took steps to protect against another mistrial, but he could not comment on the precautions. Picking the alternate juror is the first time it has been done in the time Kolbe has been prosecuting attorney, he said.
Kolbe said that during opening statements he said what he believed the case would show.
"It's a two-part trial," Kolbe said. First, he will attempt to show that the church fire was not accidental but was an incendiary fire.
Neither side refutes the fact that the fire was arson, Kolbe said. But the defense argues that Grevenstuk was not the one who started the fire.
Kolbe said he plans to call as witnesses teenagers that Grevenstuk talked to and allegedly told things about the fire.
The first witness for the defense was Kosciusko County Sheriff's Det. Tom Brindle, who helped investigate the fire.
Brindle testified in general terms about the investigation into the fire.
The prosecution then called Dan Book, an insurance claims adjuster, to the stand. Book said that the church was insured for $535,000, and claims have already been paid for more than $465,000.
Book estimated that total damage to the church building and its contents could be as much as $800,000. One part of the statute for arson under Indiana law says that "a person who, by means of fire or explosive, knowingly or intentionally damages: ... property of another person without his consent if the pecuniary loss is at least five thousand dollars."
The final witness Monday was Scott Kammerer, the Leesburg fireman who was injured at the fire scene.
Kammerer testified that he and other firemen were attempting to move an extension ladder when it became jammed and would not release. The catch finally released, Kammerer said, and caught his thumb between two sections.
The cut required seven stitches at the hospital, Kammerer testified.
The defense questioned Kammerer about the time the injury occurred, saying that the firemen arrived at 4 a.m. and Kammerer's injury did not occur until 10 a.m.
Today Kolbe expects to call David Allbritten, an agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, who helped investigate the fire. Lay witnesses, including friends of Grevenstuk, also will be called today. [[In-content Ad]]
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Timothy Grevenstuk is back in Kosciusko Circuit Court to face a charge of arson causing bodily injury.
Grevenstuk, 17, is accused of setting the fire that destroyed the Leesburg Grace Brethren Church in July 1997.
Grevenstuk's first trial in May was declared a mistrial because a potential witness allegedly threatened the daughter of a juror.
The jury for this trial was selected by noon Monday and included an alternate juror as a precaution against another mistrial.
Kosciusko County Prosecutor David Kolbe said the court took steps to protect against another mistrial, but he could not comment on the precautions. Picking the alternate juror is the first time it has been done in the time Kolbe has been prosecuting attorney, he said.
Kolbe said that during opening statements he said what he believed the case would show.
"It's a two-part trial," Kolbe said. First, he will attempt to show that the church fire was not accidental but was an incendiary fire.
Neither side refutes the fact that the fire was arson, Kolbe said. But the defense argues that Grevenstuk was not the one who started the fire.
Kolbe said he plans to call as witnesses teenagers that Grevenstuk talked to and allegedly told things about the fire.
The first witness for the defense was Kosciusko County Sheriff's Det. Tom Brindle, who helped investigate the fire.
Brindle testified in general terms about the investigation into the fire.
The prosecution then called Dan Book, an insurance claims adjuster, to the stand. Book said that the church was insured for $535,000, and claims have already been paid for more than $465,000.
Book estimated that total damage to the church building and its contents could be as much as $800,000. One part of the statute for arson under Indiana law says that "a person who, by means of fire or explosive, knowingly or intentionally damages: ... property of another person without his consent if the pecuniary loss is at least five thousand dollars."
The final witness Monday was Scott Kammerer, the Leesburg fireman who was injured at the fire scene.
Kammerer testified that he and other firemen were attempting to move an extension ladder when it became jammed and would not release. The catch finally released, Kammerer said, and caught his thumb between two sections.
The cut required seven stitches at the hospital, Kammerer testified.
The defense questioned Kammerer about the time the injury occurred, saying that the firemen arrived at 4 a.m. and Kammerer's injury did not occur until 10 a.m.
Today Kolbe expects to call David Allbritten, an agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, who helped investigate the fire. Lay witnesses, including friends of Grevenstuk, also will be called today. [[In-content Ad]]